Ruby Lal’s new biography of the Mughal Princess Gulbadan brings to life the princess’s remarkable seven-year pilgrimage, from her home in the harem of her nephew Emperor Akbar in India to the holy city of Mecca. Surviving shipwrecks and expulsion orders from the Ottoman Sultan, Gulbadan eventually returned to India where she would go on to write groundbreaking works. Lal joins New Lines’ Rasha Elass on The Lede to discuss her book “Vagabond Princess: The Great Adventures of Gulbadan,” which is b...
May 03, 2024•47 min•Ep. 97
New Lines Contributing Editor Lisa Goldman has spent much of her life living and working in Israel, but her most recent reporting trip revealed a side of the country she had not seen before. “It’s unprecedented,” she tells New Lines Africa Editor Kwangu Liwewe on Global Insights. “Israelis feel for the very first time that their army couldn’t protect them, it didn’t protect them. They had been living with a very strong sense of confidence that whatever happened, they were physically secure becau...
Apr 26, 2024•27 min•Ep. 96
“Going into Gaza, that pit of fear was more like a web that sat on my chest and never settled.” Arwa Damon has been in plenty of war zones, but going into Gaza was unlike anything she’s yet experienced. The veteran CNN correspondent joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai on The Lede for a conversation about her recent humanitarian mission into the Palestinian territory. They discuss the moving and heartbreaking human interactions Damon had with Palestinians in Gaza, the Israeli strike on the World Cen...
Apr 19, 2024•36 min•Ep. 95
Early Arabic hunting poetry showcases a fascinating overlap between the pre-Islamic world, which was dominated by the concepts of fate and time, and the post-Islamic world, in which the standout theme was an omniscient or omnipotent god. “The wise thing about the poetry is it doesn’t seek to reconcile the two, it allows both to coexist,” says Montgomery, Sir Thomas Adams's professor of Arabic at the University of Cambridge, who joins New Lines Culture Editor Lydia Wilson on The Lede. Montgomery ...
Apr 12, 2024•54 min•Ep. 94
For Alex Rowell, the need to reassess the legacy of former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser has only increased in the decades since the death of the hugely influential figure, and especially recently. “If you just take a moment to look at the Arab Spring and the countries in which the largest protests occurred, and the regimes against which millions so courageously rose up … they were precisely the regimes that were the most direct legacies of Nasser’s time in power,” Rowell, New Lines’ onl...
Apr 05, 2024•37 min•Ep. 93
In a year of elections across the globe, none will be bigger in scale than that in India, where nearly 1 billion people are eligible to vote. “In the seven decades since India got its independence, democracy has been its identity,” Surbhi Gupta tells Kwangu Liwewe on the first episode of Global Insights on The Lede. Gupta and Liwewe discuss the various key issues in the upcoming elections, such as the rise of Hindu nationalism and controversies such as improper donations to major parties, as wel...
Mar 29, 2024•30 min•Ep. 92
“War changes you. It doesn’t necessarily make you a tougher person or a better person or a worse person, but it is a training on the art of dying,” Joumana Haddad tells New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai. “I’ve always thought about that ever since I can remember. And it’s not easy to live while thinking you can die any minute.” The author and activist explains how growing up during the Lebanese Civil War fundamentally shaped her character, encouraging her to try to change the world around her, even if t...
Mar 22, 2024•48 min•Ep. 91
After the attacks in Israel on Oct. 7 last year that sparked the current war in Gaza, Laliv Melamed watched as Israeli society came together to mourn its victims — and also closed itself off. It was a phenomenon she recognized from previous conflicts. “The entire public sphere becomes like a collective body that is orchestrating around this war effort. I remember in later wars, or operations in Gaza, when I went out to demonstrate, people were shocked that I’m demonstrating in a time of war, bec...
Mar 15, 2024•51 min•Ep. 90
In September 2022, the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement broke out in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. On this week’s episode Arash Azizi, the author of a new book on the movement, “What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom,” and New Lines’ Danny Postel discuss its immense popularity, how it was different to other protest movements in Iran and why it ultimately failed. Azizi and Postel also consider how the current war in Gaza has shaped the Islamic Republic of Iran’s regional...
Mar 08, 2024•49 min•Ep. 89
One hundred years ago this week, the Ottoman Caliphate was formally abolished by a decree of the nascent Republic of Turkey’s National Assembly. In this week’s episode of The Lede, New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai talks to Professor Ryan Gingeras of the Naval Postgraduate School in California, whose book “The Last Days of the Ottoman Empire” tells the story of the caliphate’s final years. Further listening: The Last Days of the Ottomans — With Eugene Rogan Imperial Folly After the Ottomans — With Jame...
Mar 01, 2024•38 min•Ep. 88
The recent decision by South Africa, a longtime ally of Palestine, to take Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on accusations of genocide sent shock waves through the global community. The unprecedented move served as a wake-up call to Israel’s Western allies, who might not have predicted the drive of a seemingly less powerful nation to take such an action on the world stage. “The U.S. is not used to having international court judicial proceedings used either against it or against...
Feb 27, 2024•35 min•Ep. 87
“There’s more to eyeliner than meets the eye,” Zahra Hankir, author of “Eyeliner: A Cultural History,” tells New Lines’ Ola Salem. “This is not just a makeup product. It carries within it so much meaning that goes far beyond beauty. … Historically and through the centuries, eyeliner has been used as a form of conveying a person’s spirituality or their religiosity. It can be a way to repel the evil eye. It has been used medicinally to treat the eye of various ailments such as conjunctivitis. It’s...
Feb 23, 2024•42 min•Ep. 86
India’s media ecosystem has a long and proud history. It was in Kolkata, after all, that the first newspaper in Asia was published. But journalists and observers inside the country are speaking with increasing alarm about a climate of repression and self-censorship, in which outlets that challenge the official government line expose themselves to sanctions. “There’s a complete and near total capture of mainstream voices, especially the loudest voices, the most prominent voices,” says Manisha Pan...
Feb 16, 2024•52 min•Ep. 85
When it gained independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan emerged as the world’s newest nation. However, two years later the country descended into a civil war sparked by a political difference between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar, which escalated into a protracted ethnic conflict. The internal struggle for power ignited political unrest, interethnic tensions and communal violence. In 2018, international pressure forced the Kiir-led government to declare a cease-fire and...
Feb 12, 2024•30 min•Ep. 84
With so many wars across the world, a new one supplants the previous on our TV screens and front pages. As conflicts drag on, the attention of the public moves on too. When Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, that war began to dominate the news cycle, displacing coverage of Myanmar, Sudan and Syria. But, as the months wore on, the Ukraine war, too, slipped from our screens. Now the war in Gaza has captured global attention, but for how long? Why is it that while the human suffering never gets ...
Feb 09, 2024•46 min•Ep. 83
Every conflict is different, as Pierre Hazan knows all too well. The veteran negotiator and senior adviser on transitional justice with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue has witnessed many wars, including those in the former Yugoslavia and the Central African Republic. And while no two are the same, more often than not they start from the same place. “Very often you start by what we call ‘Track Two,’” Hazan, author of the recently published book “Negotiating with the Devil: Inside the World o...
Feb 02, 2024•46 min•Ep. 82
In the era of social media, women worldwide have harnessed its power to build strong feminist movements and activist networks to raise awareness about sexual harassment and violence. Social media has provided a platform for women to share their experiences and speak out against gender-based violence. Hashtags such as #MeToo, #BelieveWomen and #ImWithHer have gained global popularity and given women a space to come out and share their stories. But as these spaces have grown, so have parallel, cou...
Jan 30, 2024•30 min•Ep. 81
The small town of Ayodhya in northern India has long been a major flashpoint for communal tensions in the country. Believed by Hindus to be the birthplace of Rama, one of the most revered gods in Hinduism, it was also the site of the 16th century Babri Mosque. Enmity between Hindus and Muslims over the site grew through the 20th century before reaching its climax in 1992, when leaders of Hindu nationalist organizations, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), incited a crowd of activists to ...
Jan 26, 2024•45 min•Ep. 80
Ian Mortimer is frustrated. The historian and author of “Medieval Horizons: Why the Middle Ages Matter” says the problem is that most people seem to think they don’t. “You realize how little people know about the world around them,” Mortimer tells New Lines magazine’s Lydia Wilson. “They tend to make judgments based on the world as it is today.” But that tells you only half the story. “If you've got the perspective of a thousand years or more, you realize that actually we don't get a very good p...
Jan 19, 2024•40 min•Ep. 79
South Africa’s recent filing of a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide has sparked worldwide attention. The case, which accuses Israel of committing genocide and war crimes in Gaza, has reignited discussions about South Africa’s post-apartheid history and its evolving position in the global political landscape. Despite being celebrated for overcoming racism, South Africa has struggled with internal challenges, including sporadic and sometimes deadl...
Jan 16, 2024•28 min•Ep. 78
Can France be fixed? The beleaguered nation faces crumbling institutions, civil strife and economic stagnation. But despite deep political divisions, the French public still seem to agree on one thing at least: something has gone very wrong. In her new book, “Fixing France: How to Repair a Broken Republic,” French journalist Nabila Ramdani digs deep into the nation’s history in search of the answers. “There is this great dichotomy at the heart of the French Republic that stems from its very cons...
Jan 12, 2024•37 min•Ep. 77
Iran was set ablaze last year after Mahsa Amini was taken into custody and beaten to death by the country’s morality police in Tehran for wearing “improper hijab.” The killing of the 22-year-old struck a deep chord among Iranians, inspiring protests in more than 100 cities throughout the country, marking the largest uprising Iran had seen since the 1979 revolution. Government reprisals were severe, with hundreds if not thousands of protesters arrested and tortured and several of them executed. “...
Jan 05, 2024•52 min•Ep. 76
In October 2023, during his inaugural visit to a Commonwealth nation as monarch, King Charles III conveyed his remorse to Kenyans for the violence inflicted by the British before the country gained independence. Many elderly Kenyans were mistreated, raped and tortured by British colonial forces during the Mau Mau uprising (1951-1960). Kikuyu tribe members were held in detention camps that have been called “Britain’s gulag,” where they faced systematic torture and severe sexual assault. However, ...
Jan 02, 2024•31 min•Ep. 75
“On the 7th of October I was on my way to a day out in the north of England with my family when I opened a news feed and found out that things are kicking off between Israel and Gaza,” Sharone Lifschitz tells New Lines magazine’s Joshua Martin. “My parents live about a mile from Gaza. I called my mom, and she didn't answer.” By the evening, it had become clear that her parents were among the hostages kidnapped by Hamas. Her mother, Yochaved Lifschitz, was freed 16 days after the attacks, and ima...
Dec 29, 2023•49 min•Ep. 74
This year saw some major developments on the topic of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAPs, also known as UFOs. Among these developments was the testimony of David Grusch, a career intelligence officer turned whistleblower, before Congress in July. He alleged that multiple United States defense and intelligence agencies had been illegally engaged in a secret “multidecade UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering program;” that some of these crashed UAPs were piloted by “biologics” who wer...
Dec 22, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 73
The plight of illegal immigrants seeking asylum in the United Kingdom remains uncertain following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s latest legislation, which aims to send them to Rwanda to process their applications. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson set the U.K.-Rwanda deal in motion in April 2022, with the intention of deterring immigrants from crossing the Channel in small boats or inflatable dinghies. The plan has been contested by several human rights organizations, with both the U.K. Appeals ...
Dec 19, 2023•30 min•Ep. 72
This fall, New Lines published a series of investigations digging into government cover-ups and abuses of power around the world. This week, The Lede goes behind the scenes of two of these investigations — one in Afghanistan and one in Nigeria — and shows the difference journalism can make in people’s lives. “It kind of came into my head years ago, really, when I went back to Afghanistan in 2019,” journalist Lynzy Billing tells New Lines magazine’s Amie Ferris-Rotman. Large numbers of American s...
Dec 15, 2023•38 min•Ep. 71
“I grew up in a time where history in a way was taught primarily in the aftermath of the Second World War,” Lebanese sculptor Rayanne Tabet tells New Lines magazine’s Rasha Elass. “But I became convinced that our contemporary condition is really led by these moments in the 19th century, where language around the creation of nations, language around cultural property, language around history, really developed.” Such big ideas are the inspiration for Tabet’s art, and his 2020 ‘Arabesque’ exhibitio...
Dec 08, 2023•52 min•Ep. 70
Africa Insights is a podcast special from New Lines magazine exploring Africa's unique stories from an African perspective. The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine continues to send reverberations across the globe. In Africa, South Africa stands out as the leading voice, strongly supporting Palestine despite facing criticism from factions in its own Jewish community, opposition parties and faith-based parties. Historically, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been...
Dec 05, 2023•32 min•Ep. 69
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the world’s largest trade fair for books, though it rarely makes headlines outside of publishing trade gazettes. This year was different. Palestinian author Adania Shibli had been announced as the winner of Litprom’s 2023 LiBeraturpreis literature award for her 2020 novel “Minor Detail.” But after the Oct. 7 attacks, Litprom, which is funded in part by the German government, decided to cancel the award ceremony. “Given the context of what was happening to Palestinians ...
Dec 01, 2023•39 min•Ep. 68
